Ryan Hablitzel, pastor of the Ogden Seventh-day Adventist Church, is planning to open a new juice bar in the storefront on the southeast corner of 25th St. and Lincoln Ave. in downtown Ogden. The religious restaurant, called Press Together, is scheduled to open April 2018. (BENJAMIN ZACK/Standard-Examiner)

OGDEN — A new juice bar, with a slightly religious twist, is scheduled to open next month on Historic 25th Street.

Press Together will offer raw, organic, cold-pressed juices six days a week — Sunday through Friday — from its retail location at 195 Historic 25th St.

And on the seventh day? Like God, the business will rest, forming a community gathering place for millennials looking for a new way to “do church.”

Press Together is owned by the Nevada-Utah Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, based in Reno, Nevada. Ryan Hablitzel, pastor of the Ogden Seventh-day Adventist Church, is pursuing the rather unique business model as part of his doctoral dissertation. He’s writing a thesis that envisions the new juice bar as the center of influence for the church. Hablitzel says Press Together functions with the “full ecclesiastical authority” of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

“We’re redefining what church is,” Hablitzel said. “When I say ‘church,’ people think of large gatherings or meetings. But one of my ideas is that millennials don’t like the way we currently do church.”

Hablitzel says it makes sense that the church would open a juice bar, since Adventists are known for being “super healthy” and vegetarians.

“When we talk about juicing, most are pasteurized,” he said, referencing the process of heating the juice to kill potential bacteria. “But this is entering the world of fresh juicing. We use a cold-press juicer, which is considered superior to other methods.”

Hablitzel said he’s looked at some of the other juice bars in Utah, and many of them don’t offer the organic element. That’s a big deal for people buying this type of juice, he says.

Among the most popular items at the juice bar, according to the company’s website, are Greengo — a mix of orange, grapefruit, lemon, kale, Swiss chard, romaine, parsley and jalapeno; and Red — featuring beet, carrot, apple, lemon and ginger. Each is $4.95 for 10 ounces, and $7.95 for 16 ounces.

The juice bar also offers a selection of smoothies ($7.95); two different bowls (an Acai Bowl and a Dragon Bowl, $8.95); cashew milks ($4.95 and $7.95); alkaline water ($1.95); and a “Detox Box” (featuring six juices and three alkaline waters, $49.95).

Press Together was originally founded in Georgia in 2013. In 2016, the company was sold to the Nevada-Utah Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Hablitzel found space on Historic 25th Street and decided to open the first juice bar there. Eventually, a second business will be opened in Logan, and Hablitzel says the idea is to create a model that can be easily reproduced elsewhere. The Nevada-Utah Conference is planning additional Press Together juice bars in both Las Vegas and Reno.

“But Ogden’s going to be ground zero,” Hablitzel said.

Press Together is currently going through Ogden City’s permitting process, and Hablitzel says they’re shooting for a soft opening on April 1.

The new juice bar, on the corner of 25th Street and Lincoln Avenue, will also be part of what’s being touted as a new concept in Utah. The space will also house six other dining businesses in a “food hall” setting. The food-hall concept has been used in California, Oregon and Florida, according to developers, and they say it’s a bit like a higher-end food court.

Contact Mark Saal at 801-625-4272, or msaal@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @Saalman. Friend him on Facebook at facebook.com/MarkSaal.